Commercial arbitration

In one of the largest ICC cases in history, we obtained for ConocoPhillips a $2 billion award against PDVSA, the Venezuelan State-owned oil and natural gas company.  

The arbitration raised issues of contract interpretation, contractual and extra-contractual liability, and the net present value of two long-term projects of macro-economic significance.  

ICC arbitration, New York seat, international & Venezuelan law.

The matter ran parallel to an ICSID investment treaty arbitration against the Republic of Venezuela, in which we secured one of the largest ICSID awards in history, worth $8.5 billion. 

We successfully defended a leading Japanese automotive manufacturer in an arbitration against a Middle East counterparty.  The claimant alleged that our client’s failure to renew a marketing and distribution agreement was unlawful. 

Our client prevailed on this decisive issue and settled residual claims and costs on terms that resulted in it receiving a net payment.

JCAA arbitration, Tokyo seat, Japanese governing law.

We secured a comprehensive victory for the Kingdom of Bahrain in an ICC arbitration against French company Constructions Industrielles de la Méditerranée (CNIM). The dispute arose under a contract to design, build, and operate a waste-to-energy plant. Following the arbitration, we successfully defended the award in Paris Court of Appeal proceedings.

The case involved complex issues around financing major projects in the Middle East amid the Arab Spring and the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, as well as the environmental and regulatory risks of waste-to-energy plants.  

ICC arbitration, Manana (Bahrain) seat, Bahraini law.

We secured a $60 million award for a Latin American company in an arbitration against a multinational aerospace corporation.  

The dispute arose from a series of consultancy contracts, under which our client had provided services for over two decades. Our client sought payment of unpaid remuneration, together with financial relief in connection with the termination of the relationship. 

The tribunal rejected arguments of corruption and defences that sought to create unenforceable obligations, awarding damages based on the parties’ oral agreements on project-based compensation. 

ICC arbitration, Geneva seat, French governing law.

We acted for Areva and Siemens in an ICC arbitration against Finnish utility TVO. The claims arose from the construction of the OL3 nuclear power plant in Finland. OL3 is a third-generation plant and the first nuclear facility built in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster.

We successfully settled the dispute, which involved claims and counterclaims totalling €5.5 billion and presented complex design, regulatory, delay, and quantification issues. 

ICC arbitration, Stockholm seat, Finnish law.

We represented Crescent Petroleum, Dana Gas, and Pearl Petroleum in a London-seated LCIA arbitration against the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG). Our clients alleged that the KRG had violated contractual rights and obligations in relation to two oil and gas fields in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  

We obtained relief including interim measures requiring the KRG to resume regular payments; partial final awards against the KRG worth c.$2 billion; dismissal of counterclaims worth several billion dollars; and a favourable costs award.  

The arbitration facilitated a settlement that allowed our clients to proceed with development with materially enhanced contractual rights in relation to the fields.